Sinlessness or Impunity? Criminal Measures Against Legal Persons

Abstract

The Act CIV. of 2001 on criminal measures against legal persons entered into force on 1st May, the day of Hungary’s accession to the European Union. The act broke with the taboo-like principle which didn’t allow using sanctions against legal persons. Although the Hungarian regulation didn’t go so far to recognise the culpability of legal persons, the new act introduced significant innovations in several points. The cases and statistical data presented in the study confirm that the regulation is poorly implemented: courts apply criminal measures against legal persons only in a few cases, although these sanctions could play an important role in cleaning economic life. The present study attempts to reveal the causes of this phenomenon and suggests proposals to enhance the efficiency of the implementation of the act.